Fix Yue
by HMFarmForever
Summary: A tragic story about a girl who doesn't believe in romance and her best friend who's falling for her. As much as I hate love triangles Max Yue Kyle
1. Part 1

_Part 1_  
Yue was an independent girl. She was the kind of girl who believed she could be kidnapped by a villain, save her own butt and defeat the villain before her glorious _savior _could even mount upon his white horse in his shining armor. She didn't believe in a fairy tale ending, she believed that nothing in life came on a silver platter.  
Growing up she didn't have many friends… All the little girls wanted to dress up in frills, sequins, and glitter and dance about like fairies, princesses, and enchantresses. All the boys wanted to play knights, villains, or pirates and would dress up and fight each other to the death (or really until they were too tired to continue). Instead of playing like children her age should, Yue found herself in the library every afternoon after school. Once she had read all the books in the library, she insisted that her teachers taught her more about "adult matters". By the time she was nine, she had completely redesigned her family's business by installing modern day business techniques and made the store more efficient and productive. Her mother said she had the brain for the business. Her father insisted she was too young to worry about such things and should enjoy being a child. Yue couldn't disagree more. Her father was an idiot, a child that would never grow up. Instead of helping her mother with the family business she inherited after Yue's grandfather died, Yue's father went fishing every day. Her mother was too blinded in unreasonable love to see this as a fault; she saw it as a plus to their business. Yue's uncle sculpted weapons and her aunt made jewelry, her mother sold crops, animal products, seeds, and flowers, hot meals, and her father sold his fish. The business was a shop where you could find everything under one roof. You could buy you're girlfriend an engagement ring, your groceries for the wedding and even a sword to keep the monsters away on your honeymoon. Yue saw the store's miscellaneous status as a bad mark on business, but kept her mouth shut. When she was fifteen she graduated, three years before her class with much higher knowledge than anyone who had ever graduated her school. Her mother suggested that she try her hand at business management, while her father suggested sending her to travel the world so that she could enjoy her youth before getting married and having kids. It was later decided against her will that she would travel around the world with one of her father's friends and his family. Her father gave her a journal to keep a log of all of her adventures and sent her off with the Roger's family.  
Yue was smart though, smarter than her father anticipated she thought. She knew why her parents had chosen the Roger's family out of the four families that were leaving to see the world. The Roger's family consisted of Fredrick and Lisa Rogers and their four handsome, muscular sons Carter, Frederick Jr. , Tommy and Victor. Her parents, she thought, must have hoped that along their two year journey together that she might become fond of one of these morons and actually fall in love with them, that way when she returned home of proper marrying age their parents could arrange for their matrimony. Yue gagged at the thought of love, especially if she were to fall for one of these babbling idiots and their talk of hunting, dirt, and their large muscles. These boys swooned brainless girls of all was glad she had a brain.  
Luckily, her parent's pointless effort to find her a husband failed as the end of their two year journey grew near. Even though the Roger's boys tried to romance Yue, they eventually gave up since they had no interest in succeeding. Yue returned home in the Spring and told her parents of all the things she had seen and learned, none of which involved boys, love, marriage or kids to her parent's great disappointment.  
"Yue," her father scolded. "You have to learn that growing up is more than just business. Growing up is about accepting responsibility and starting a family."  
"Aren't you the one who told me not to grow up so fast?" she retorted. "I don't need a man to take care of me. I can live happily on my own without a husband or kids!" Yue ran upstairs clutching her journal tightly.  
"You can't be a child forever, Yue." Her father snapped.  
"Then what's your excuse?" Yue yelled, slamming her bedroom door.  
Grounded. That's the way to teach an adult to not be a kid, ground them. As if that made any sense. Yue guessed they expected her to cry, to throw a fit, to say "It's not fair!" like a child would. Instead, she locked herself in her room. She sat on her bed all night writing in her journal, refusing dinner by saying the journey home had ruined her appetite. Yue flipped through her brown leather journal, a beautiful book held together by ribbons on the left and right side so that she could move around or remove the sheets as she wished. Yue had organized her entries in alphabetical order; she made notes of products made and shipped, popular items bought and other merchant notes on every county they went to. She opened her book and took a piece of empty paper from the back and placed it in the front. She wrote _"Yue's Traveler's Journal" _at the top in big cursive letters, then underneath it she wrote:  
_"I'm leaving. I'll be turning 18 in two weeks, the 9th of Spring. I'll be old enough to travel on my own without the accompaniment of an older individual. It's high time I moved on, I'm old enough to carry my own weight and my parents don't need to any longer, they've even tried to marry me off just so that I was no longer their responsibility even though they used the excuse of my responsibility to cover it. Journal I feel as if you're the only thing I could trust, though I'm not going to foolishly call you Dear anytime soon. I say this because I know you are sensible, unlike the average humans I've met. Like me, you believe hard facts and no foolish fictional tales of princesses, dragons, enchantresses and knights, which is why I feel as though I can confess this to you. I don't believe in love. I'm afraid people might see me as a monster or a witch if I told anyone, which would take a huge bite out of business. I know you will keep my secret safe though, I don't believe in love because it's so silly, have you ever seen people in love Journal? They're fools! Men who spend thousands of dollars to please women they love with jewelry or fireworks display, women who cry their eyes out when a man they love breaks their heart, Romeo and Juliet who were dumb enough to kill themselves if they couldn't be together, and my mother who's lost her senses for business (which has drastically effected her business) because of my child of a father. Love is a drug, a poison that seems sweet until it takes control of your mind and kills you. Don't get me wrong journal, I'm not a stick in the mud or some evil stuck up tyrant. I'm just smart enough to realize true love is a myth, and if you let it catch you it can stop your broken heart and kill you. So promise me this journal, that when I leave you will not let me fall to the foolish ways of mankind, help me to keep my mind on business and not be seduced by the evils of the wizard of love._

Sincerely, Yue"

***  
"Welcome! Welcome one and all! You want it I got it! Find some of the rarest and exotic items at a stupendously affordable price brought to you by your very own Yue!" Yue sold her self to the crowd as rich, poor, and mid class rushed to buy from her store ignoring all of the other vendors at the bazaar. By the end of the day she was sold out. "How is it that you just moved here not even a year ago yet you seem to have all the customers drooling at your feet to buy the same stuff we got for three times the price we charge it for?" one of the angry merchants asked. The others joined in, grumbling around her store seeing her sold out while they didn't sell but a few items. "Boys, boys please!" her voice soothes over the angry crowd. "It's all too simple, yet your poor little minds can't seem to fathom it!" They all grumbled and shouted though none of them understood why except they knew they had been insulted. "If you want to succeed in this business gentleman, you need more than just good prices and nice items." They all paused to listen to her wise advice on business, even though all of them were twice her age or older. "You gotta sell it to make it look better than it is," she said with a wink. "But none of you can do this because none of you are as cute, sweet, or innocent looking as me." She slid down behind her booth escaping just before the attack as they all began to argue and shout of how they were better. Yue rolled her eyes, grabbed her pack and left the old men arguing with each other in the bazaar tent.  
She giggled to herself at the foolishness of the men, with advertisements like "We sell pigs feet, so come and see what you want to keep" or "I don't mean to be a grouch, but if you don't buy something I'll have to sleep on the couch." They were practically giving all their sales to her! Plus the fact that she dressed like a little Chinese girl with a pink flower in her long black hair and a short blue kimono helped to emphasize her cuteness and made buyers completely oblivious to any scam she might pull. For example buying a pearl necklace for ten times the price the seller thought they could get then selling it for twelve times that price to a noble in another town. With a bat of her glimmering blue eyes she could also sell a hammer for three or four times the price another vender sold it for because she sold a better quality of items than the rest. Even though a wood hammer and an iron hammer were worth about the same prices, she could sell the iron one for more because it looked like it was worth more.  
She whistled to herself as she walked down the street to the town inn. Normally she camped if the option was available to her, but one of her richer clients heard she slept by herself in the "cold, cruel woods" as they called it and paid for her to have a room at the town inn for as long as she wished to stay in town. She didn't want to accept at first, she actually liked being on her own away from the world but he was one of her best clients and thought it best not to upset him and lose business. It was a nice inn of course, and he had paid for the nicest suite they had.  
York was nice enough, the villagers (excluding the other merchants) were very nice to her, but she was too restless to stay in one place too long. She had been traveling now for five years, staying in a town a few months then designating a kid with potential to sell her merchandise while she moved on to another village to plant her business. In a way, she was the first CEO of trading, but no one of her time understood what that meant so she just called her self the owner and designated workers and one star pupil to be manager. She had used her previously gained knowledge from her two years of travel to put a unique twist on each of her stores. She gave her managers books to keep up with finance, all of which were put into an account that nobody but her could take money from and each month the workers and manager would be paid their share of that month's income. Even though high-tech equiptment hadn't been managed yet she was able to run her entire cooperation while still traveling town to town.  
She went to the kitchen and ate a plate of curry rice and fish. Then she went upstairs and went to sleep, she decided that she'd leave the day after tomorrow at dawn. The next day she went to find Reed. Reed had learned how to talk someone into buying whatever he had to sell, no matter what the item, no matter what the price, he could convince you it was the best deal even if it was far from it. Though he wasn't good at convincing anybody anything else, like talking that cute girl Jenny into going out with him, he had what her mom called 'a mind for the business'.  
"Reed," she said to the 16 year old. "You know I've told you that you were my star pupil, and that if you worked hard enough that one day you could manage all my sales in York. Well guess what, today's that day." Reed smiled and nodded, slicking back his blond hair and winking at Jenny, hoping that his advancement in power at such a young age would attract her attention. Yue taught him the rest of the day about how to keep up with sales and gave him her book on store management that she gave to all her managers that would remind him of all the things she had taught him about management. The men who had argued with her the day before were pleased at her disappearance, thinking they had scared her off yesterday, not knowing that her sales would double the next day because of her absence today.

The next morning Yue left, leaving a note for the innkeeper and for the man who paid for her room, thanking them both for making her stay in York so pleasant. She took a deep breath as she walked out into the forest, smelling the fresh pine. "Where to next?" she thought out loud as she pulled out her map. "Alvarna isn't too far from here. 3 days travel." Yue was glad to travel, and after spending half a year in York it felt good to finally move on. Yue sang to herself as she traveled, she would stop to sell to any travelers she passed by and collected valuable items she saw along the way. Monsters didn't normally bug her but if they did she knew how to fend them off with a sword.  
"Excuse me miss?" one traveler said from behind her.  
"How might I help you good sir?" she asked brightly with her cutest smile. "Are you looking for something in particular, or are you just shopping because of how beautiful it is today?"  
"Actually I wanted to ask you something…" the gentleman asked meekly.  
"Well I'd love to answer sir, it's not often I get to have a conversation with a nice fellow like you."  
He blushed at the compliment and quietly thanked her, then said. "Do you believe in Earthmates miss?"  
"Earthmates? You mean people entwined with nature that can control monsters and close portals designated by an immortal being to protect us and keep us safe from monsters? I can't say I do. I gave up such childish thinking long ago, I believe that we need to fight for ourselves instead of waiting for a hero to do it for us."  
The traveler nodded, "A lady of knowledge I see. Well I was just wondering, you see I've been traveling not too far behind you for a day now, and I couldn't help but notice you take the paths that are said to be filled with dangerous monsters yet none seem to attack you, almost as if you were a witch or an Earthmate."  
"You do realize those are two completely different things?" she asked as she stared at the mad fool. "That's like comparing a fish and a bird. A witch is someone who has played with the devil and sold her self to do his bidding. An Earthmate is a mere child's fairy tale. Perhaps I simply have Elven blood running in my veins."  
"Right you are, miss. Right you are. Well good day to you miss, safe travels."  
Yue turned her back and sighed, sad at the sight of such an insane fool, she looked back but he was nowhere to be seen. In the clearing of the forest, she could still see York's tallest buildings even though she was half way to Alvarna, but she could not see the man who had only left but a few seconds before…

Alvarna was a peaceful human village; it had everything a little village needed, from blacksmith to hospital and fortuneteller to mayor and home to one of the richest families in the world— the de Sainte-Coquille. Yue could already imagine the numbers in her head, she smiled as she walked into town, introducing herself first to the mayor and left to meet everyone, saving the richest- er the best for last.  
"Hello, I'm the de Sainte-Coquille's maid, Cecelia. May I help you?" the orange haired elf asked.  
"Yes ma'am you can! My name is Yue, I'm a traveling merchant with some of the most exotic items you can imagine to sell, I've just come into town and I wanted to introduce myself to everyone in town, might I ask if the de Saint-Coquille family is home."  
Before Cecelia could answer, a deep proud voice answered from above, "We are indeed." Cecelia let her in and Yue looked up to see a handsome young man walking down the proud staircase that looked like a prince with long blonde hair in a light blue and white outfit that Yue imagined cost more than her parent's store. "My name is Max, Max de Sainte-Coquille and don't you forget it darling." he said with a wink. "And might I ask who you are?"  
"My name is Yue." She said with a curtsy, gesturing her hands since her dress was too short to curtsy with. "I'm a traveling merchant and I've just come into town and decided to formally introduce myself to everyone."  
"Yue?" he asked curiously. "I believe I've heard of your shop before. You have stores stationed around the globe! It is an honor meet you." He took up her hand and kissed it. _"Look at this guy, thinks he's a girl's dream! Good thing I'm not a pawn in his chess game. Though he doesn't seem very smart or manipulative, just very outgoing and open, acting as though he were a prize to all but not willing to settle for any girl's heart. Clever, not the sharpest tool in the drawer, but not a bad method of action."_  
"If you'll follow me up to my father's bedroom, we were just having a meeting." He said gesturing to the stairs that had two paths up and only one down like a wishbone. "I've got it from here Cecelia, thank you for welcoming our guest."  
"My pleasure Master Max." she said with a curtsy as she went back in the kitchen.  
Max led her up the long staircase, where he began to play his game, unable to resist flirting with a pretty girl.  
"Thank you for your compliments, but I'm afraid I'm not interested in what you're selling." Yue said. "If you don't mind I'd like to remain professional about business, besides I'm sure there's a girl much prettier than I who deserves your attention rather than a poor merchant like myself."  
"Well I'm afraid I disagree," Max said. "I don't believe there is a girl more beautiful nor one who deserves more attention than you. I also do not believe that you, my dear Yue, are poor. From what I've seen you are quite rich, though you don't seem to want to settle down and retire even though your money would keep flowing in. Might I ask why?"  
"You're a lot smarter than I first gave you credit for." Yue complimented. "So I'll tell you. You see, I'm rather restless. I don't like staying anyplace longer than a season or two. You ask me why I don't settle down and live the rich life, well it's because I don't think I was made for sitting, I'd get too bored."  
Max smiled, "We're a lot alike." Yue doubted that. "You see I too am not good at sitting still, so I help my father with many different aspects of our business. It may not sound physically challenging, but I promise you one day's work is a real mental work out."  
"I'm sure if you were half as physically driven as you were mentally you'd be moving faster than a hummingbird and more muscular than a even the strongest of knights." She teased.  
Max laughed and replied, "Probably so, but if I did that then I might be as dreary as you." Yue laughed, glad to have finally found a customer who didn't mind a little sarcasm, though she was good at adjusting her behavior and humor to match what her customers saw fit.  
Max opened the door for Yue as she walked into a bedroom that was larger than a school room. Yue walked in to see a round man with blonde hair and glasses dressed in purple and a beautiful girl with blue hair in a white and pink princess like outfit having a serious conversation. "Father, Sister, this is Yue, the traveling merchant who's store's we've seen world wide." Max introduced proudly as if she were some ingenious business plan. "Yue this is my sister Rosalind and my father Herman."  
"It's an honor to meet you Mr. And Ms. de Sainte-Coquille." Yue said with a curtsy.  
"And an honor to meet you Lady Yue." Herman said.  
"I'm afraid I have no noble blood that entitles me to be a called Lady." Yue said. "But thank you for the compliment."  
"If you don't mind me asking Yue, I've been to all your stores and I've been wondering something. How did you discover Spain's secret love for ruby jewelry and that the French loved the smell of roses and vanilla?" Rosalind asked. "You seem to have special items only available in certain countries, and these items are the most popular. How were you the first to discover this?"  
"Well I feel as though I were surrounded by highly educated and successful, business minds like myself. So I'll tell you my secret." Yue complimented. Every ear leaned forward as though they weren't going to catch what she said. "I went on a trip after school, I graduated three years before my class and I had the knowledge higher than that of a noble and already had the mind for the business. So on my two year journey around the world, I made notes on what the people of each city and country seemed to be interested in and I kept all my notes in a journal."  
"Fascinating!" Rosalind said sincerely.  
"Do you think I could look at some of these notes?" Herman asked.  
Yue wanted to say no, but she hesitated because she didn't want to lose his business.  
"Now father, that wouldn't be very fair of us." Max corrected. "Even though we might act like friends, we need to have a barrier between personal and business relationships. We are still her competition, and we wouldn't want to steal her secret to success."  
Yue sighed in relief, she was glad Max saved her but she didn't want to be in debt to a man that seemed to like her, or at least liked to flirt with her.  
"You're right Max, please forgive me Yue. I hope that this doesn't interfere with out business later I'd rather like to shop from your store." Herman apologized.  
"Of course! I'll be sure to stop by your house every day at the end of my route." Yue said. "Now if you'll forgive me for being rude, I need to leave. It's been a long day and I need to rest for opening day."  
"Please, join us for dinner first." Rosalind begged.  
"Oh yes, it's the least we could do!" Herman agreed.  
Yue stayed as to not insult her hosts, but she had never had a more delicious meal. After dinner Herman insisted on Max walking her home, or where she'd be staying, saying it was too dark for a pretty girl to be walking alone. Yue again agreed and thanked them even though she knew that she could take care of herself.  
"Where are you staying?" Max asked.  
"At the crossroads near the forest." Yue answered hoping he wouldn't insist on her staying at the Inn.  
"You're camping?" he asked. "I don't like the idea of you staying out there all by yourself with all those monsters in the forest."  
"Well they never bother me and I've been camping at places like it for nearly six years now. I can defend myself with a sword and I am perfectly capable of protecting myself."  
"I don't doubt that you are fully capable. I just don't like the idea of you being by yourself." Max said. "Do you ever get lonely?"  
"No." she answered. "I'm a very social person, but the woods is the one place where I can get away from everything. Where I can get warm and cozy in my sleeping bag and watch the stars. You can't get a good view of the stars in the city, but out here in the forest, away from all the light- the night sky has as many stars as sand on the beach."  
"Wow, that does sound wonderful. No wonder you like camping out rather than staying in a crowded, stuffy Inn." he said sincerely.  
Yue paused and stared at him in amazement, she wasn't expecting him to agree with her, no one ever did, especially not rich, white playboys. She had already figured out her argument on why she preferred it, but now it was useless to her. They walked in silence for a moment then Max broke the silence.  
"Beautiful." He said.  
"They are, aren't they?" Yue said staring up into the night sky.  
"Yes, but they aren't nearly as beautiful up in the sky as they are when they're dancing in your blue eyes."  
Yue felt her face grow hot and turned away. What an idiot… Thinking he could melt the stone heart of a scholar into believing fairytale love stories. "Here we are." She said, glad that they had reached the crossroads. "Thank you for taking me home."  
"I'm sorry if I have insulted you." He said with a serious look of concern on his face. "Might I bestow one last kiss upon the hand of the lady before we say good night?"  
"If you want to kiss it merely as a polite gesture then go ahead, but if you think somehow I'm going to melt in a puddle at your feet then you're just wasting your time."  
Max smiled and kissed her hand, "Good night Yue. I hope fate brings us together soon."  
"Fate won't," Yue retorted. "Business will."

***  
"Oh Yue! Have you met the new guy? He's such a dream!" Mana fluttered. Yue had only been in town a week, but she had already learned that Mana was the most annoying, childish, bossy, and most undesirable person she had ever met. She was a notorious gossip and her voice was so high pitched Yue wondered if the dog whistle was 2 octaves below Mana's voice.  
"Though Father made me look like an idiot in front of him,"  
_"You don't need any help with that."_ Yue thought.  
"Father said that he couldn't have my hand in marriage when Kyle and I talked about the sakura trees."  
_"As though anyone would want to marry Princess Squeak-And-Shriek"_  
"I don't know why Father would just assume that every guy I speak to wants to marry me."  
_"Maybe because you flirt with everything that breaths and is male."_  
"Anyways thanks for this new frilly pink dress, I'm sure Kyle won't be able to keep his eyes off me in this!"  
_"Probably because you'll look like you escaped from the circus."_  
"But I must say, it's three times the price I thought it'd be."  
Yue smiled, she had never risen a price because she didn't like someone but she decided that every dollar she cheated Mana for would go to some foundation that would find a way to save people's ear's from bleeding due to exposure to high pitched annoyingness. "Well you see Mana, that's because the material for this dress was made by a rare Swedish silk worms!" Yue lied.  
"Really?" Mana asked staring at the dress. "It's amazing how well little worms can sow!"  
Yue resisted the urge to face palm. "Which is why the price is just right." Mana ran off happily clutching her new treasure and Yue sighed in relief.  
"Cute isn't she?" Yue heard a deep voice say.  
_"Cute? More like Puke!"_ Yue thought. "Well I'm afraid I'm not interested in women to notice." Yue turned around to see whom the voice belonged to.  
"According to Max you aren't interested in men either." A boy with red hair and blue eyes said. "My name's Kyle and I like a challenge."  
"My name's Yue, and I'm not interested."  
"Alright, so the bad boy routine doesn't work on you. You just seemed so upset that Mana was so obsessed with me so I thought maybe you liked me."  
"Your head's grown too big for your ranch and you haven't been here a week." Yue snapped, she wanted to punch this guy already and she had just met him. "If you'll excuse me, I'm closed."  
"And I like working after hours." Kyle said, grabbing her arm and taking a step towards her.  
Yue gripped the butt of her dagger she hid in her kimono. "Well you'd better learn to leave while the door's still open before it hits you where mother nature split you."  
"Ooh feisty." Kyle teased, his forehead touching hers. Yue began to pull her-  
"That's enough Kyle." Yue had never been happier to hear Max's voice. "Leave this young lady alone or I'll tell Mana where you hide when she comes looking for you."  
Kyle chuckled, "You got me Max, sorry I hit on your woman. I hope you won't hold it against me."  
"She's not my woman." Max said with his hand on Kyle's arm though he wasn't nearly as strong as Kyle was, Kyle let him act it though. "She's just a beautiful woman who I am pleased to call friend and a girl who is way out of your league." Max shoved him back away from Yue, stepping between the him and her.  
"Whatever," Kyle said putting up his hands. "I'll see you around Max, _Yue_."  
Max grunted in displeasure. "What a creep." he spat. "Are you okay?" he asked turning his attention to Yue.  
Yue pulled away, looking down. "I had everything under control," she snapped. "I didn't need your help."  
"True, he wouldn't have stood a chance to your dagger, but I didn't want you to have to explain yourself when mayor Bryon asks why his protegee amnesic comes to him with dagger wounds."  
Yue swallowed hard, feeling guilty for snapping. "Thanks."  
"You're welcome." Max said, he grabbed her arm and rolled up her sleeve to see a light bruise.  
"It's nothing."  
"Yue he bruised you!"  
"They won't believe me!" she yelled. "It's like you said, who will believe the mysterious merchant who lives in the woods and never stays anywhere long over the man who's making this town famous."  
Max sighed he knew she was right. Max rolled her sleeve back to cover it. "Come on, my father's been dying to buy your merchandise all day." He said putting hand behind her back as though to protect her. Yue knew he was a wimp, but it was sweet that he wanted to protect her. Sweet, but that didn't mean she liked him.

***  
"Top of the morning to ya!" Yue said cheerfully.  
"You're rather bright for a Sunday morning." Max said. It was only dawn but Yue had already set up shop in the town square.  
"Well Sundays are the best day for business, because everyone else is closed and people have fresh new paychecks in their pockets that burn holes until they're spent. Which is why Sundays are the best time for my business!"  
"You rat!" Max laughed.  
"Squeak squeak!" Yue said with a wink. "Throw me some cheese and I'll do the Nutcracker Suite!" Max and Yue laughed in the empty square like a couple of fools.  
"Why are you telling me all your dirty little business secrets?"  
"Because I know you won't run away in fear of a scam." Yue replied. "You have a nose that could smell a scam a mile away, it runs in your family. If I were to sell you a broach that I bought for a fourth of the price I sold it to you for you'd know right away I was a rat."  
"But in business, all men are rats selling to other rats just trying to become the top rat." They laughed and Max asked, "Would you consider having lunch with me today? Rosalind is hanging out with her friends and father is off on a business trip today and I thought it'd be a lovely day for a picnic, but I hate eating alone."  
"I'd love to Max, but if you don't stop loitering then I'll have to turn you down because I won't have made enough progress to stop." Max smiled and walked back towards his house to prepare lunch by himself. Suddenly, Yue was worried about what he was going to make for lunch.  
Luckily, Max didn't try to overcomplicate lunch. He brought some sandwiches, some juice, and fruit slices. They took the boat at the dock to Blessia Island to get away from assuming eyes. They were just two friends having lunch, nothing more. They put out their blanket on the beach and sat down and began to talk and eat. Yue was surprised Max was okay with talking with your mouth full, but he would just politely cover his mouth if he had to talk and Yue did the same. Soon she didn't even notice they were doing it, and got lost in conversation.  
"Such a beautiful summer day," Max said.  
"It is." Yue said. "It's hard to believe that I've been here for a season already… Normally I would be choosing a kid to be my manager and preparing to leave but for once, I don't have a single worker, no star pupil and weirdest of all… I don't care on finding one."  
"Why is that?"  
"I'm not sure." She laughed. "I guess I just like this place so much I don't want to leave. Something about this place it— …it makes me sad to think I'd have to leave."  
"Hm…" Max smiled.  
"What?"  
"Oh nothing, nothing, it just amuses me that the great and restless Yue has been tamed by such a simple town."  
"I have not been _tamed_." Yue insisted. "The great and powerful Yue has simply decided to rest her never ending motor for a few more seasons than usual."  
"In other words— you're retired, or _tamed_." Max teased.  
Yue threw a grape at Max and began the epic fruit battle that would haunt the island for an entire four minutes. It ended with both of them exhausted, hiding behind a rock lying next to each other, covered in sand. Max dropped the orange slice in his hand and Yue ate her strawberry. "We're getting too old for stuff like this." Max said.  
"Speak for yourself!" Yue said, she sat up and continued. "I'm only twenty four and still a ball of energy!"  
"I can tell!" Max laughed. "But you know as well as I do that people are age our considered old. I mean think about it, most girls are married by sixteen, most people have three or four kids by the time they're our age!"  
"Ugh." Yue said lying down. "We are getting old…."  
"How is it that a beautiful girl like you hasn't gotten swept away by a handsome prince yet?"  
Yue was silent for a moment. "Can I tell you a secret?"  
"Of course." Max said turning to look at her, propping his head on his hand. "You can tell me anything."  
"I know I can." Yue said smiling. "It may sound strange, but I trust you more than anyone I've ever met. You're the only real friend I've ever had. I've had friends before but none that I feel I could trust as I trust you."  
"What do you wish to tell me dear Yue?" Max asked, his bright smile shining brightly in his emerald green eyes as well as his mouth.  
"I don't believe in love." Yue blurted out. "I think it's just a fairytale, like fairy god parents and dragons." Neither of them said anything for a while. "You think I'm a monster don't you? Some freak beast without a heart… I guess I've just never believed in fairy tales. I've always seen things in a mind of business you see."  
"I never said you were a beast, and if you were then you are the prettiest and nicest beast I've ever met. I can't say I agree with you about fairy tales and love, but I don't think you're a monster; it's simply your opinion. But may I tell you why I believe?"  
Yue sighed, too glad that the closest friend she had didn't hate her for not believing in love and fairy tales to worry about arguing with him. "Sure."  
"Well you see, my parents were never home when Rosalind and I were little." He said laying back down. "So we had a nanny take care of us. She always told us fairy tales of princes and knights in shining amor saving princesses, slaying dragons and wizards, riding horses and sailing the deep blue sea defeating pirates and sea monsters. It was the only thing that could get us to forget how sad we were that our parents were gone. Rosalind and I would play wild imagination games and be pirates, princesses, princes, knights, and such. Fairy tales give me a reason to hope and dream, they may not be real but they give you a small hope of happiness that things always have a happy ending."  
Yue nodded, she had never thought about that but she couldn't shake the idea that, "What if there aren't always happy endings?"  
Max smiled and didn't waste a moment thinking of what to say, "Then I always have you to make me happy."  
Yue smiled and got the strange urge to-… no that'd be crazy, they were only friends, but she really wanted to lay beside him and have his arms around her, that wouldn't be too strange, would it? Before she could even ask him if that would be weird, an irritable voice broke the silence.  
"Are you gonna kiss her or just stare into her eyes reciting love poems all day, Romeo?" Kyle shouted, a union of girlish giggles following. Yue and Max sat up to see Kyle on the boat with Mana, Alicia, and Julia all in their swimsuits ready for a beach party.  
"I'm afraid I prefer to be a gentleman. Unlike you who seems to take more than one girl on a date at a time." Max snapped. "And my name is Max, don't tell me you've forgotten already."  
"That's cause I got game." Kyle laughed, ignoring Max's last statement, the girls giggled in unison.  
Yue clenched her fist and in a flash threw one of her daggers and it stuck right next to Kyle head.  
"Ha," Kyle chuckled nervously. "Y-You missed."  
"This time on purpose to make a point. If you aren't careful and date around than you're chances of getting a chased by an angry mob of dads are as high as your chances of me hitting you in between your eyes. The odds aren't in your favor."  
Kyle gulped and stomped off the boat, his party slowly filing behind him. "Kyle," Mana whispered. "Isn't it dangerous in there with all the monsters?"  
"D-Don't" Kyle cleared his throat, "Don't worry ladies," he said very deeply. "I'll take out the monsters so we can enjoy our private party."  
They walked off just in time before Max exploded in laughter. "That was great!" he barely managed. "Did you see the look on his face? Oh man! He just about peed on himself!" Yue relaxed and started laughing too. It felt good to laugh, and Yue laughed the most when she was with Max.

***  
A few days later, Kyle came by Yue's shop. "What do you want?" she snapped.  
Kyle put up his hands in surrender and said, "I only wanted to apologize for my rude behavior. You're right, I don't take responsibility for my actions, I've always just partied and done what I wanted when I wanted and didn't worry about the consequences. So I came here to apologize."  
Yue was about to object when he held out an aquamarine. It was beautiful, the perfect shape and the perfect color of deep blue. Yue had to control herself to keep from snatching it out of his hand. She loved aquamarines. "I-Is that for me?" she asked. Kyle nodded with a smile. "All yours." Yue calmly reached out and took it from his hand.  
"Thank you," she said. "How did you know that I liked this?"  
"I have my ways." He said with a smile. "I'll see you around."  
Yue nodded and watched him leave. Everyday he came by and bought something from Yue and gave her an aquamarine. He started being nice, friendly even. And she started to notice… that Kyle was actually kind of… sweet and maybe a little—cute even.  
One day Kyle came up with armloads of panther claws and Yue's eyes widened. "Where did you find all of these?"  
"You wouldn't believe how great panthers are for sword practice." Kyle said. "I remembered you saying something about people in a few towns over would pay an arm and a leg for these so I stayed out late at Blessia and scored as many as I could."  
"Kyle this is incredible!" Yue said as she quickly slapped the money in Kyle's hand and packed them in her bag.  
"Incredible enough to save me a dance at the Dance Festival tomorrow?"  
"What?" Yue asked trying to hide her bright pink cheeks. She had never been asked on a date before, let alone to dance._ "But why would I care, it's not like I'm interested in dating… So why did I feel such a jolt in my heart when he asked?" _  
"Of course, I'd love to." She heard herself say. Why was she acting like this?… _"Oh no, have I caught the disease… for Kyle? That can't be true…"_  
"I'll be looking forward to it." He said with a wink.  
Yue stood there for a moment to think. She had her first date tomorrow. _"What will I wear? I don't know how to dance! Wait- why do I care…?!" _The rest of the day, all Yue could think about was Kyle. How he smelled, how he walked, how his nose crinkled when he smiled, how he'd look all dressed up tomorrow… It was sickening, but she kind of liked it.

***  
"You want me to do _what_?" Max asked.  
"Teach me how to dance." Yue repeated. "You know how to don't you? I thought you might know how because I thought that you might have been to a few Balls…"  
"I do know how." Max answered. "But why do you want to know all of the sudden?"  
"I um…" Yue said. "For the festival tomorrow."  
"Do you have anyone particular you want to dance with?"  
"Yes, but I don't know if I really like him or-" Yue sighed. "I'm not good at this whole 'love' thing, I guess I'm just trying to figure out how I feel about him. He's sweet, he's funny, he's cute and we talk a lot."  
Max smiled, "Sounds like a charming fellow, and on that note—let's dance!"


	2. Part 2

Max saw Yue sitting by the pond near the Cherry Blossom Square, waiting for someone to come dance with her. She was wearing a new white qipao dress with light pink flowers etched in it. Her long black hair was up in a bun with her flower tucked in. She was gorgeous. Max took a deep breath, and tried to keep his heartbeat down so he didn't choke when he asked her to dance. "_It has to be me she's waiting for right? Or will it seem like I'm coming on too strong? At first I just thought she was cute, then I realized she was a mature beauty, much unlike girls here… I know she said she wasn't interested, but maybe my talk of fairytales changed her mind. Don't choke Max you can do this. Just walk right up to her and say-"_

"Good evening Yue, care to dance?" but it wasn't Max who said it. Max looked up from his hiding place behind the trees and saw Kyle, of all people, taking Yue's hand to dance with her! He stood only long enough to watch her walk away with Yue's hand in his. Rage burned in his heart as he sunk down the tree branch.

"Damn." he cried softly. Why would she go out with that jerk? What does he have that Max didn't? Max was a gentleman, romantic, sweet and handsome. Max left his hiding spot, and went to wait by Kyle's house to ask. Sure it may be a little forward, but he was only asking a simple question, how bad could it be?

Max waited for hours, and hours, and hours until finally Kyle showed up way past midnight. Kyle had picked up Yue at six… they couldn't have danced for that long could they? If they weren't dancing than what were they doing?… Max refused to think about it, Yue wasn't that kind of girl.

"Hey Max, whatcha doing out here?" Kyle asked. "You missed the party!"

"I came to ask you a question, and I want a straight answer." Max said, trying to sound big so that he didn't feel intimidated. "Why do girls like you?" He didn't mean it rudely. He just wanted to know why girls seemed to drool so much over one guy.

Kyle laughed as if it was the dumbest thing he had heard. "I think you mean, why don't girls like _you_."

"Every girl in town was miserable that you asked Yue to the dance instead of them, they came by here crying that you didn't dance with another girl the entire night. Why do they care? What makes you so much better than everyone else?"

"Look," Kyle said with a cocky grin as he stepped closer. "Girls like a mysterious tough guy, which is something this town didn't have until me. Sure you have the two classic jerks in the town, but both of them are sissies, all talk and no game. The rest of you guys are just a bunch of wussies that sit inside and work all day. Can you say BORING?!" Kyle laughed again, and then continued. "I bet you've never even seen a real monster. Wouldn't matter if you did, you couldn't even take the weakest monster for a battle. That's what you don't have Max. I've got it all. I have a job that shows off to girls how tough I am, I fight monsters, I'm smoking hot, I come from an unknown place and know nothing about my past and I can only remember by finding my '_one true love'_, and I am saving this town from falling into a dirt whole. I'm the hero of their mysteries, the Prince Charming of their dreams."

Max remembered what Yue said about fairy tales. "What about Yue, she doesn't believe in any of that. Why did you pick her to dance with over all the other girls you could have in a snap?"

Kyle leaned closer and Max could smell alcohol on his breath. "I like a challenge you see, I even told her that. Yue's been playing hard to get since day one, but I found her weakness." He leaned back and began to walk inside, "Nice girl, I can see why you're so obsessed with her." he put his hand on the door, "Too bad she'd rather go to bed with a real man." Before Max could grab him Kyle slammed the door and locked it. Max clenched his fists and sat there for a moment trying not to scream.

He had never hated anyone before, but he hated Kyle with every fiber of his being. He ran home and went straight to his room. "_What can I do?" _ he thought. "_Yue deserves more than that overgrown pig. She deserves a man who will love her forever and protect her, not someone who will use her for a one night stand. I'll never deserve her until I can prove that I can take care of more than just business. I can fight and I'll prove it." _

The next day Yue's smile was even bigger than normal. She had had the time of her life last night! Kyle swept her away and complimented her on her dance skills. After a long day's work, Yue went to thank Max for teaching her how to dance. A newly wrapped present with Max's name was tucked away in her bag, but when she got to his house, she couldn't find him.

"Excuse me Cecelia," Yue asked. "Where's Max?"

"I'm afraid he hasn't been himself all day." Cecelia answered sadly. "He's been in the gym all day. He hasn't eaten since last night before the Festival, and he's never missed a meal before. Maybe you can talk some sense into him."

"I am his best friend. I'll try my best." Yue answered, not realizing that even Cecelia knew Yue was more than just a friend in Max's eyes. "But er- where's the gym? I don't think I've ever noticed that room before."

"It's one of the secret rooms." Cecelia whispered.

"Secret rooms?"

Cecelia nodded, "Haven't you ever noticed this house is much bigger on the outside than it is on the inside? That's because Master Herman's father designed it to hold secret rooms that could not be seen by everyday people walking in. There's hidden bathrooms, a gym, a ballroom and even 4 large walk in closets."

"There's all that?"

"And more, but I can't tell you them all. Why do you think I work such long hours? You don't think I spend all day cleaning this small portion of the house now do you?" Cecelia laughed. "The door to the secret hallway leading to the other rooms is behind this wall." Cecelia pointed to the far right wall, where she picked up a painting and inserted a key into what looked like a design in the wallpaper. The wall began to shake and Yue heard large things moving around the wall but saw nothing change.

"Where is it?"

"Behind the stairs in the cleaning supplies closet." Cecelia answered, leading Yue. Sure enough, there was a door that had seemed to appear out of thin air. Yue thanked Cecelia and after getting instructions on how to find the gym she left. She couldn't believe how many rooms were in the de Sainte-Coquille house. After a walk that seemed to last forever, she found the room with the blue door Cecelia had told her to find. Yue opened the door and saw a shirtless man fighting moving dummies with a sword. He had a blonde ponytail and a pale and slightly muscular body. It took Yue a moment to realize that man was—"Max!"

Max jumped and missed his dummy and was attacked by another from behind. He fell on his face as an overhead voice said "Level Failed."

"For the love of—" Max yelled. "Cecelia, I told you I don't want—" Max turned and saw Yue instead of Cecelia. "Yue!" he shrieked, falling back onto the pile of dummies. "W-what are you doing here? How did you find—"

"Cecelia showed me, she was worried about you." Yue said, putting down her things. "And I should ask you the same thing."

"I'm training."

"Why?"

"Does a man need to have an excuse to want to train?" Max said irritably turning to face the weapons rack.

"When that man is you, yes."

"Why is that?" Max asked as if offended, turning to face her.

"Because you're the brains not the brawn."

"Why can't I be both?"

Yue laughed, "Because I know that fighting isn't your style. You'd much rather talk things through professionally than with your fists."

"Well maybe that Max has changed."

"Well this Max needs to explain what he did with my best friend. What's going on? You're never like this."

"Look Yue," Max sighed. "If I want to find a girl then I need to show her that I can protect her from harm."

Yue stared repulsively at Max. "That's not what girls care about Max. Girls want guys to love them the way they are, it doesn't matter if he can slay a few beasts with his big muscles and flashy sword."

"It matters to you. You're into big muscular monster slayers."

"What? You mean Kyle?"

"No, you're other monster slaying boyfriend. Yes Kyle!"

"Kyle is not my boyfriend, he just asked me to the dance so I said yes, no big deal."

"No big deal? You don't dress up for a guy who's _'no big deal'_. You don't take a crash course in dancing lessons the night before the Dance Festival for a date that's '_no big deal'_. You don't stay out until midnight drinking, partying, and Lord knows what else with a guy who is _'no big deal'_, Yue."

Yue looked as though she had just been slapped, "What are you suggesting _Max_?" she yelled. "I don't go around and party with guys or drink. Who do you think I am? Why wouldn't I tell you of all people if I was dating someone?"

"You didn't tell me about your fabulous date last night. Did he sweep you off your feet with his marvelous dancing? Did he promise you the moon and stars if you'd only let him hold you for one more dance? Did you have the time of your life last night dancing only because _I _your best friend taught you how for your secret date with a guy I thought we both hated without telling me?"

Yue's face had grown bright tomato red with anger. She reached in her bag and threw Max's present on the ground. "Not everything is about you Max. You may have the big house, the rich family, the fancy clothes and the gentleman act, but you aren't fooling anyone. You're just a big, whiny baby and no amount of training could change that you jerk!" Yue stomped on the gift and ran out holding back her tears until she got to the forest. Inside the gym, Max stared at his present, inside the squished box wrapped in white ripped wrapping paper with a deformed red bow was Max's slightly cracked gift. It was a green and orange mask from a troll that was called a—proof of warrior, something Max had longed for since he was a child. Max held his head as he realized he had gotten what he had wanted but had lost his best friend in the process...

"Damn..." he cried. "What have I done?"

Yue ran without looking back. She fought to hold back the tears but soon tears began to run over and sting her eyes, flowing like waterfalls down her face. She just kept running and running, not paying attention to where she was going. He was right. She had betrayed him as a best friend. Why had she been afraid to tell him it was Kyle she was going to dance with? Why didn't she tell Max about how nice Kyle's been and how he's changed because of her. She had been a terrible person and a terrible best friend.

Finally she fell on her knees beside a river, she washed her face to try and hide the tears, but they came faster than she could clean them. She sat up and realized, she didn't know where she was. She heard a branch snap and looked around to see a Troll staring down at her. She reached for her daggers but couldn't find them. Then a gleam from behind the Troll caught her eye, she had dropped her weapons near the grape tree behind the monster.

"Yue!" Max cried at the Crossroads. He couldn't find her anywhere! "Yue!" Max walked towards the Trieste Forest where she usually camped. "Yue!" Nothing. He left and walked over to the Messina Valley entrance. "Yue!" He heard a scream, and knew it was Yue. He ignored his fear of running into a monster; all he could think of was finding Yue. He ran inside, and it didn't take long to find her.

She was by the river with a Troll blocking her from getting to her daggers. Her hand was over her shoulder, covered in a thick red liquid— blood. "Get away from her you-!" Max called out a series of names that instantly grabbed the Troll's attention. The Troll ignored Yue and began charging for Max. Max blacked out and his life flashed before his eyes, he would have been sliced through if Yue hadn't yelled, "Max lookout!" and woken him up. Max dodged the Troll's attack and ran towards Yue's daggers while it chased him. Max picked up the first dagger and threw it at the Troll, missing hitting him with the blade, but getting him in the head with the butt of the dagger rendering him dazed for just a brief moment. While the Troll sat in a daze, Max quickly used Yue's dagger's to close the portal the Troll had come from, to prevent more monsters from coming. He was almost finished when he heard Yue cry— "Max!"

Max spun around and stuck out two daggers, landing them right in the Troll's gut. Then he kicked the Troll down and hit the portal a few more times, finally closing it. Max didn't have long to celebrate because when he turned around to finish the Troll he was attacked. Yue shrieked in terror as she saw the Troll swing at Max with his claws, slicing a big X with 8 scratches on his chest. Max kneeled over and Yue ran to help when Max yelled, "No, please... I can do this." Yue obeyed, but she told herself she would save his butt and kill the stupid Troll before she let it hurt him again.

Max stood up, one arm over his stomach, the other with a dagger in hand. The Troll jumped to attack but Max avoided and hid behind the Troll. The Troll tried to turn to find him but it was obvious Max did have one point of fighting down- dodging. Max and the Troll turned to face each other at the same time as Max drove the dagger into the Troll's neck. The Troll staggered backwards as Max fell down to his knees again. The Troll hit the grape tree and dropped something, before the Troll had a chance to decide if he was okay, Max threw Yue's dagger and this time he landed it in the Troll's chest. The Troll fell over and died as Max fainted from blood loss.

"Max!" he heard Yue cry. Max woke up to a blurry vision. "_Am I dead?"_ he thought. His blurry vision cleared up some and he saw a black haired girl sitting beside him, with big beautiful blue eyes. "Max!" His vision cleared a little more and he saw it was Yue, with her arm bandaged up and in a sling. "Max!" she yelled with excitement. "Dr. Natalie! Ray! Dorothy! He's up!"

Suddenly the room flooded with people and noise. Faces that began to blur together, questions that sounded like gibberish. His head was pounding... "Everyone!" he heard Ray yell. "Give him some space, he's not fully conscious yet."

Max was grateful that his friend recognized his pain and soon the room was quiet again. "Ray, change his bandages." Natalie said. "I'm going to go get some more medicine. Dorothy, get him some soup and Yue, you stay here and keep him awake."

Yue brushed Max's hair out of his face and said, "You can count on me." She checked his forehead and grabbed a rag from a bowl of cold water and cooled off his neck, face, and forehead.

"Thank you for saving me." she said. "Especially after I was so terrible to you."

"What?" Max asked.

"I'm so sorry, please forgive me, Max."

"Yue you don't have to be-" Max groaned as the pain shot through his body as he trued to sit up, but Yue quickly laid him back down.

"Don't move," she commanded. "You'll only make yourself worse."

Max obeyed but continued what he was saying, "You don't have to be sorry, Yue. It was my fault. I was a jerk." Yue tried to calm him down but he ignored her. "You were right, I was making your relationship with Kyle about me and it's not, it's about you and him and as long as you're happy, I'm happy. I value our friendship too much to lose you over something stupid like this."

"I agree." Yue said with a smile. "Now let's get over all this drama and get back to being best friends."

Max smiled, "I like the sound of that." Max stared up into Yue's beautiful blue eyes that seemed to hold the night sky within them, keeping the moon and the stars in a home better than their own. She talked to him and kept him awake, but he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was even after spending the night sleeping in a chair next to his bed.

"Max did you hear me?" Yue asked.

"What?"

"I'll take that as a no." she laughed. She had the cutest laugh. Sometimes when he got her laughing really hard she'd snort and then her whole face would turn red and she'd bury her face in her hands. "I asked if you saw what the Troll dropped after you killed him."

Max thought for a second and remembered seeing the Troll drop something right before he killed him. "Yeah- hey what was that?"

Before he could even finish asking, Yue held it out before him. His very own Proof of Warrior that he earned by himself, protecting Yue. "Guess you don't need my store-bought Proof of Warrior anymore." Yue said. "You have your own now, one you earned yourself."

Max smiled and said, "And it will look lovely hanging next to the one you bought me."

"Jeez," Yue teased. "You're such a kiss up."

"I am not! I just love the one you bought me as much as I love earning one myself."

"In other words, you're being nice or _kissing up_ to make me happy." Yue said with a wink. Yue and Max laughed until Max groaned from the pain from his wounds.

A few weeks later, the hot summer days blew away and were replaced by the cool autumn. Max was fully recovered by the sixth of Fall and was able to leave his bed. He woke up, ate a big breakfast, and went down to the bathhouse to clean up, then ran into Yue on his way home.

"Happy birthday!" she said, giving him a big hug. "We need to celebrate! Not only are you off of bed rest but you're also twenty six now— woohoo!"

"Ah yes, a few more years and I'll be an old bachelor." he groaned, slightly from displeasure with his age and from minor pain where his scars had been.

"Come on!" Yue said excitedly. "I closed down my store today just so that I could spend the day with my best friend on his twenty sixth birthday!"

Max sighed. He never expected Yue of all people to close her shop down for anyone, "What did you plan on doing?"

"Let's go for a boat ride!" Yue said. "It's too cold to go to the beach and swim now, so I asked Mayor Byron if we could use the boat used to sail to Blessia Island for the day and he said it was fine."

"I have a better idea." Max said. "How about we take the de Sainte-Coquille private boat?"

"You have a private boat?" Yue asked, her eyes widening.

"Well technically it's called a yacht, but we don't really talk about it. We don't want people to think we're too rich."

"Oh I'm sure they'd feel quite hoodwinked if they found out you were _that_ rich." Yue joked, but she knew what he meant. He didn't want people to mooch off them for their fancy things and money, just like their secret hallway. They wanted their privacy just like everyone else. Max went to his house to pick up his things and then took Yue to where they hid their secret yacht.

"What did you bring?" Yue asked once they were on the water.

"Oh just a few essentials for the perfect adult private party for two." Max said with his blonde ponytail flying in the wind. "Just let me get us far out enough in the water so I don't have to drive."

Yue was fine with waiting, the breeze felt so nice. She secretly wanted to go on the edge of the boat and hold out her arms as though she could fly but that would be childish. She was glad she finally coaxed Max to go with her, this was the first time they had gotten to hang out since he got hurt. _"I hope he doesn't have any permanent scars from it..." _Yue thought. _"I'd hate myself forever if I knew I did something like that to him."_

"Ah here we are." Max said waking her up from her thoughts. Yue looked around to see nothing but water and sky. It looked more like a painting than the actual ocean surrounded them. The blue waves gently rippled in the pleasant breeze. The sky held cotton white clouds with every shade between white and gray dancing around the silver lining. "It's beautiful out here." Yue said. "I'm surprised you don't come out here more often."

"Well I would," Max said, as be began to empty his secret basket. "But you know how busy our business can be."

"What does your family do exactly?" Yue asked, raising her eyebrow curiously as she stepped closer.

"The de Sainte-Coquille family collects wine." he said as he opened a bottle of wine. "My father travels around the world collecting different wines, visiting the stores, and making deals with wealthy buyers. My sister balances the books, she 's been our accountant ever since mom died."

"And what about you," Yue asked, leaning on the boat wall next to Max. "What is it that keeps you so busy?"

"Believe it or not, I do inventory. I research different wines to figure out the popularity, taste and age. I keep up with our worldwide store's inventory, and I am also in charge of marketing. Based off of local income rates, prices of nearby wineries and the worth of our own collection, I decide the prices. Honestly my father has been slowly putting me into the business since I was thirteen, in a few years I'll be doing most of the work."

"And you're not already?" Yue asked.

Max smiled and handed her a glass, "My father and sister do as much work as I do. I just have multiple jobs."

Yue took a sip of the dark red drink, "It's sweet." she said happily.

"My father keeps his rarest finds for himself." Max said as he took a sip. "This is his favorite, he and my mother drank this wine at their wedding. It took him eight years to find another bottle, now he owns the winery that makes it so we get all we want. Though he usually only keeps a few for special occasions."

Max and Yue sat on two chairs and sipped their wine and talked as they ate cubed cheese and grapes.

"I feel so fancy." Yue laughed.

"Now I know the world's richest merchant could afford a simple thing like this. You could probably buy my father's company for all I know."

"I'm not sure." Yue said getting lost in the beauty around them. "I own businesses all over the world, this is the first place I've stayed more than a few months. I know it sounds crazy but I just can't get myself to leave." They were quiet for a moment. "Can I ask you a question...?"

"Anything." Max said with the glow of the ocean dancing in his blue green eyes.

"Are you okay with your father forcing you to carry on the family business?"

"Forcing me?" Max asked, puzzled. "Well, I guess it wasn't really an asking matter but—" He sighed and chuckled, "Let's just say I knew he'd still love me if I decided to invest in another business. I can't say it didn't come to mind, but I found joy in wine collecting and selling if you can believe it. Not because of the money, though it is a bonus, but because I found the wine business fascinating. Wine is like snow flakes, no two bottles are completely identical. They all have different smells, tastes, ages, backgrounds... the possibilities are endless. I actually thought about moving to a large town where they had knight tournaments and becoming a trained fighter. I never thought I could love anything more than gripping a weapon in my hand. Fate has a funny way of finding us." Yue quietly nodded. "Why do you ask?" Max asked.

"Have you ever done something to someone you care about that you know would hurt them, but you were too selfish to see that all they did was out of love for you?" she asked.

"Yue, I've known you for a long time now, but you've never spoke of your past and I never asked because I knew it was none of my business, until now."

Yue sighed. "When I was little I never behaved like a normal child." she began, Max leaned back in his chair and listened intently. "I didn't play make believe or with the other children, I read. When I was nine, I redesigned my parents business and increased their income by 51%. I graduated when I was young and my father tried to do everything in his power to keep me from having to grow up. Back then I thought he was just being childish, but I didn't realize it was because his father had tried to force him from growing up too fast. He tried to set me up with one of his friend's sons, sent me on a two year trip around the world, he did everything in his power to keep his little girl. I got mad one night when he got onto me for being selfish and childish, and I told him he needed to grow up before pointing the finger. I ran away from home, and haven't seen or heard from my family since." Yue tried to fight the tears that tore at her eyes. Why was she crying? She had always thought of this moment as the start of her career, so why did it make her sad? "I've never cared about love or marriage, family, or kids. Kyle's the first guy who took me out on a date that wasn't arranged. So why is it that I think about them now, here with you?" She shook her head at this puzzle at hand. "I never felt like I was forced to be in my family business, but I never remember having that feeling you did about making your own choices. I felt like I did what I had to when I needed to, and that was all there was to it. I was good at being a merchant, and it's all I've ever known. I've never really tried anything else." She looked up at Max, who stared at her with his eyes full of pain. "What's it like to have a family that you know loves you? I never cared about it until I got to this town. This town is like one big family that would do anything to help their neighbor. I've never seen that in any other town I've been to."

Max and Yue sat quietly for a moment as Yue brushed away a teardrop. Max grabbed Yue's hand, "Talk to your parents." he said. "You said it yourself, they do care about you, even now. Our parents say that we can't understand how much they love us. There is nothing we can do to make them hate us forever. You're feeling this now, because you've buried your emotions and feelings from the world for so long, and this town is acting as a geyser, trying to push them out." Max put down his glass and grabbed Yue's chin and stared directly into her eyes. "You are a beautiful, independent, and talented merchant. People buy from you because you make them feel like they've known you for years. Your problem is that you don't know how to treat the people you have known for a long time. You like to move around a lot so that you don't get emotional connections with people. You fell in love with this town, you made friends." Max choked a little as he continued, "You found someone you care about, Kyle. You avoided emotional connections not just to avoid the pain of leaving but also to avoid the memory of leaving your parents behind."

Yue let the tears flow for only a second to relieve the burning sensation in their eyes. "Thank you, Max." she choked. She hugged him tightly, embracing the warmth she had become so familiar with. "You're the best friend I've ever had." Max smiled and hugged her, wishing she could know how much he really cared about her.

Yue left their embrace and dried her eyes. "Gosh, can't believe I'm bawling like a baby." she laughed. "Sorry for crying on your birthday, Max."

"No need for apology." he said. "Just watching the ocean with you makes this the best birthday yet. Even if I am getting old."

Yue wrinkled her nose. "But if you're getting old that means I'm getting old."

Max shrugged, "We are the two oldest unmarried citizens in town." Yue moaned and sunk into her chair. They both laughed.

"Well at least we can pluck out each others gray hairs while we watch everybody else get married." she joked.

"Well if I live to see a gray hair on your head, I'll save it and put it on display."

She wrinkled her nose, "Okay Max that's all levels of creepy." They laughed and Max drove the boat home as they watched the sun set on what they believed to be the best day ever.

"Good thing we didn't get wasted." Max joked as they walked home.

"Yeah, two drunk single best friends would have been the talk of the town."

"Nah, I'm sure Kyle's done something more interesting than that in the last twenty four hours." Max said bitterly. Before Yue could ask what he meant, Max opened his front door to hear a roaring, "SURPRISE!"

Max came home to find a large surprise party that included everyone from the town and some of his family's business friends. Max wore a grin that stretched from ear to ear, his eyes dancing with excitement. "Happy birthday Max." she said with a smile. Everyone came down to greet the birthday boy as they partied all night long.

The leaves had changed into a collage of colors and fell to the ground as the busiest season began to bustle. Max and Yue found themselves caught in the webs of work and hardly had time to visit. Other than the weekly business dinners with the de Sainte-Coquille family, they never saw each other. Fall busily breezed by, crops were grown and sold and people began buying and trading, getting ready for the winter that was quickly drawing closer. The warm breezes of autumn began to fade as winter started to nip at the heels of the villagers as the last day of fall came to a close. "Can you believe it's almost winter?" Max asked his friend Ray.

"I can hardly believe the seasons go by as quickly as they do." Ray laughed as he rubbed his shoulders. They walked through the town square to the beach as they continued to talk about business when Max asked, "How's your sister doing?"

"Just fine." Ray answered. "She and mother are still constantly arguing about her fortune telling abilities but I just try to resolve the fights rather than take sides." Ray fought back a smile as he asked, "How's Rosalind been?"

"Wonderful actually." Max said. "She's been oddly happier lately. She's been humming songs our nanny used to sing to us and smiling a lot."

"Really?" Ray asked, he laughed and his face turned red.

Max raised an eyebrow and smiled, "What's that look for?"

"Um…" Ray said he cleared his throat. "Nothing, nothing at all."

"I'm afraid I know you too well to believe that, dear friend." Max said, stepping in front of Ray to stop him. "Plus, I'd know that look anywhere."

Ray smiled, "Alright, alright." He laughed, "I didn't know how I was going to bring it up but…" He paused, unable to continue.

"You're in love with my sister." Max finished.

"Head over heels." Ray laughed. "Never thought I'd be so in love I'd lose the ability to speak properly." He chuckled then continued, "I wanted to ask for your blessing, since you are my closest friend and the brother of my beloved. I already asked for your father's blessing, but I wanted to ask for yours as well."

Max straightened his smile then asked, "Why do you love her?"

Ray saw the seriousness in Max's eyes, he took a deep breath and said, "She is everything I could ever want. I think about her when I'm not with her. The way she smells, the wrinkles she gets in the corners of her eyes when she laughs, how soft her hands are, how beautiful she is." He laughed in reverie, as if he were seeing her now. "I find myself getting lost in those gentle green eyes of hers… She's so kind and precious, gentle and sweet, romantic and divine in every way. If she were dirt poor and wore rags I would love her the same. I love her more than life, and if the situation arose, I would gladly die for her." Max nodded and Ray added, "That's the way you feel about Yue isn't it?"

Max blinked, his face flashed pink in shock. Once he gathered himself, he pictured Yue. It pained him to think about it. He found himself lying awake some nights thinking about her smile, the way she smelled, how her nose crinkled when she laughed and how she blushed when she laughed so hard she snorted. He believed her eyes held every star in the night sky. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever met. He had nearly given his life for her before, hadn't he? And he would gladly do it again. Ever since he had seen her, he never cared for another woman. No matter how hard he tried to fight it, he was head over heels in love with Yue. "Yes." He sighed.

"Then you understand." Ray said excitedly with a smile.

"Yes," Max said, smiling. "I thought you might be but now I know for sure. I have something for you. My sister and I grew up listening to our nanny tell us fairy tales, in one a prince gave his true love a bouquet…"

"The bouquet of a hundred roses, I remember that story." Ray said smiling. "If you know where I could find one I'd give you anything for it!"

Max smiled, "I think we have a deal." Ray smiled as they shook hands and began to discuss the trade. After saying good night they parted ways and Max decided to go visit his favorite merchant. He ran to the woods, he had to tell her. He couldn't hide it any longer. If she didn't feel the same then at least he could know that he tried. Finally he reached Yue's camp without stopping he said, "Yue I have something to tell you-"

He stopped dead in his tracks and saw Kyle with his arms around Yue, her face bright red. Max felt his heart shrink and plummet through his foot into the earth. He smiled weakly, "I'm sorry to interrupt. I guess I was just so excited-"

"Max was it?" Kyle said innocently with a snide look in his eyes. "If you don't mind we were kind of having a private moment." Max was flustered; he didn't know what to do. All he could think about now was Kyle's rap sheet. Did Yue finally give in like all the other girls? He than began to wonder if he had just interrupted simply a kiss or a hit for home run. "So sorry…" he stuttered. "I'll be leaving now." He turned to leave then Yue called out, "Max wait." Max just kept walking. "It's not what you think. Max!" He heard voices behind him but their words blurred together in his head as he slowly moped home. How could he have been so stupid? In his epiphany of undeniable love he had forgotten all about Kyle. He walked inside and went to bed without eating dinner. He laid awake all night wishing that he could tell her the truth, but his heart was so lost in love he didn't know if it was even his place to tell her.

"Get off me Kyle." Yue had said just moments before Max had arrived.

"Come on Yue, we've been seeing each other a while now, I thought you cared about me."

"I do…" she argued, her face bright red. "But this doesn't feel right…"

"Come on it's just one kiss."

Yue thought about it, but something in the back of her mind was nagging that it would turn into something more than just an innocent kiss. "I'm sorry Kyle I just don't feel right about this."

"Of course you don't, your lips aren't on mine yet." He said pulling her close. Luckily Max ran in and saved her, but as quickly as she felt relief by his presence she felt embarrassed as well when she saw the hurt look on his face. "Max!" she yelled as he ignored her and kept walking. Yue tried to run after him but Kyle kept his grip. "I have to go after him!" she argued.

"Max is a big boy, Yue." Kyle said. "He'll be fine. It's not like he's an emotional princess that just got his heart broke. It's just awkward to walk in on your best friend like that."

Yue watched Max's shadow fade into the trees. "I guess you're right…"

"Now come on, it's too cold out here for you to be sleeping on the ground. Until winter passes you need to sleep at my place okay?"

"Okay…" Yue said, not paying attention to what Kyle was saying. Max didn't look like that was all that was wrong with him. She saw something, a twinkle in his eye that was pushed out by pain when he saw them. She wasn't good at reading people's emotions but she felt that there was more to it than that. She was so lost in thought, she didn't even realize Kyle was leading her to his house, or that his intentions were not for her to sleep on his couch…


End file.
